Arakan News Agency
Representatives from Rakhine State urged UN special rapporteur for human rights Yanghee Lee to be judicious in her assessment of the state in her upcoming human rights report.
The report will be compiled based on her third official visit to the country, which ends on August 7.
During a meeting with the special rapporteur in Yangon yesterday, Rakhine’s Chief Minister U Maung Maung Ohn accused Ms Lee’s previous depictions of the human rights situation as unfairly disparaging, and said it would ruin Rakhine State’s international reputation.
In particular, he singled out her characterization of the serious abuses and “tremendous trauma” suffered by Muslim minorities in Rakhine State.
“We need an accurate report. During her previous trip we thoroughly explained our country’s situation. She accepted our explanation, but she submitted an inaccurate report anyway. It has caused a misunderstanding of our country by the international community,” he told The Myanmar Times after the meeting.
During the course of yesterday’s meeting they discussed education opportunities for internally displaced persons in Rakhine State, flooding and the “Bengalis” – the official terminology used to refer to the state’s Muslim communities, many of whom self-identify as Rohingya.
“Currently, we are working on getting the Bengali people citizenship. But as I told her in our meeting we don’t accept the Rohingya people. There are no Rohingya people in Myanmar and they are not an ethnic group accepted by Myanmar,” U Maung Maung Ohn said.
In June, the government announced that the formerly stateless Muslim white-card holders – estimated to number around 700,000 – would be eligible to apply for citizenship if they fulfill legal criteria, which includes renouncing Rohingya as their ethnic identity.
Following yesterday’s meeting with Ms Lee, the chief minister said that he thought their discussion was productive and was confident that the special rapporteur now understands the issue.
“Ms Lee didn’t ask a lot of questions on this trip. I believe she will understand the current situation of Myanmar’s human rights and her next report will benefit our country,” he said.
Ms Lee also met yesterday with Rakhine State residents, who travelled to Yangon to talk with her after her trip to the heavily flooded northwest state was cancelled.
“The Rakhine people and Myanmar citizen’s attitude about the UN envoy will depend on her new report. If she submits an inaccurate report, there will be tension between the UN and Myanmar,” said U Than Tun, a Sittwe township resident who met with Ms Lee.
The special rapporteur’s last report, issued in February, triggered outrage in Nay Pyi Taw and protests by nationalist groups. In response to her assessment submitted to the UN Human Rights Council, Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement accusing Ms Lee report of infringing on Myanmar’s national sovereignty.
Ms Lee could not be reached for comment yesterday, but in a statement about her August 3-7 visit, she stated that she “will continue to carry out the functions of my mandate in a balanced, impartial, and transparent manner”.
Source : mmtimes
